Prestigious film event is now nothing but good party opportunity

May 21, 2009 19:31 GMT  ·  By
Paris Hilton and her boyfriend on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival
   Paris Hilton and her boyfriend on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival

Once, the Cannes Film Festival used to be the long-awaited event that would help directors and movie studios show off fancy artsy projects, for which they were decorated and, if lucky, even approached by distributors. Cannes was the ultimate instance of unspeakable glamour and never-dying style, an event that one felt proud to be associated with. In recent years, though, things are far from what they used to be, as a new piece in the Daily Mail says.

Because everybody wants to be associated with the concept of glamour and style, more and more rich people are turning their attention towards the Cannes Film Festival and buy tickets for it to be there when it kicks off. Their interest in it, though, has nothing to do with the movie industry since they only come all this way from the remotest corners of Europe for the booze, the girls and the non-stop parties. This, in itself, would be OK if it did not force renowned movie stars to avoid the film festival altogether even if they also have premieres listed in the competition, as Laura Topham tells the Mail.

“Many [tourists] have no connection to the film industry – and no interest in it either. Fifty years ago, parties were hosted by movie studios and peopled by A-list stars. This week, the bashes were thrown by vodka brands, and genuine celebrities were rarely to be seen. The town – with a usual population of 70,000 – swells at festival time to 200,000. La Croisette, the main seafront road with its instantly recognizable palm-tree borders, throngs with tourists and revelers gawping at the sections of private beach where the wealthy party crowd come to spend their money and lose their inhibitions.” Topham writes, after spending an entire week observing the “festivities” at Cannes.

The “insalubrious” decline of the once glitzy film festival is more than just a sign that times are changing, and clearly more than a good opportunity to lament the corruption of past values, Topham underlines. It also stands as testament that we are slowly turning our attention away from what really matters – in this case, the movie industry – to things that we could practically do in any other location. Yet we have chosen Cannes, once the epitome of pure class, to have our Eurotrash and shameless excesses brought to, the author believes.

“A-listers are abandoning the event like a sinking ship. Where the likes of Robert Mitchum, Sophia Loren and Katharine Hepburn once roamed the hotel terraces, stars now show up for premieres and launch parties – as contracts dictate – then promptly depart. The few stars who are here, including Jim Carrey and Brad Pitt, are hidden away in their hotel rooms, surrounded by vast retinues of assistants and PR minders.” Tophan adds. Because the Cannes Film Festival is no longer about the acting as it is about the partying.